:first-child Selector

Categories: Selectors > Child Filter

first-child selector

Description: Selects all elements that are the first child of their parent.

  • version added: 1.1.4jQuery( ":first-child" )

While .first() matches only a single element, the :first-child selector can match more than one: one for each parent. This is equivalent to :nth-child(1).

Example:

Finds the first span in each matched div to underline and add a hover state.

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<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>first-child demo</title>
  <style>
  span {
    color: #008;
  }
  span.sogreen {
    color: green;
    font-weight: bolder;
  }
  </style>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
 
<div>
  <span>John,</span>
  <span>Karl,</span>
  <span>Brandon</span>
</div>
<div>
  <span>Glen,</span>
  <span>Tane,</span>
  <span>Ralph</span>
</div>
 
<script>
$( "div span:first-child" )
  .css( "text-decoration", "underline" )
  .hover(function() {
    $( this ).addClass( "sogreen" );
  }, function() {
    $( this ).removeClass( "sogreen" );
  });
</script>
 
</body>
</html>

Demo: